Daniel Wilson (Canada)
|birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland |death_date = August |death_place = Toronto, Ontario |alma_mater = |residence = |profession = |religion = |spouse = |children = |website = }}Sir Daniel Wilson (January 5, 1816 - August 6, 1892) was a Scottish-born Canadian archaeologist, ethnologist, prose author, and sometime Canadian poet.. Life Wilson was born in Edinburgh on 5 January 5, 1816, the son of Archibald Wilson, a wine-merchant, and Janet (Aitken).Grant, 692. After studying at the High School and the University of Edinburgh, he spent the next 10 years in journalism and other forms of literary work, in both London 1837-1842) and Edinburgh (1842-1847). In 1845 he became secretary to the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, and in 1848 published Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time, of which the chief value lies in the numerous illustrations, done by himself. In 1851 appeared his most important work, Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, which placed him in the front rank of archaeologists. In 1853 he became professor of history and English literature in the University of Toronto, where his practical ability and energy soon made him the most important member of the staff. While writing extensively on the archaeology and anthropology of Canada, and giving an impetus to the study, he produced nothing of lasting importance. His main work lay in asserting the claims of the University of Toronto, and of University College, the teaching body affiliated with it, against the sectarian universities of the province which denounced the provincial university as 'Godless,' and against the private medical schools in Toronto. Largely owing to Wilson's energy in fighting for what he called 'the maintenance of a national system of university education in opposition to sectarian or denominational colleges,' the provincial university gained the chief position in the intellectual life of Ontario. In his efforts to escape the control of local politicians he was less successful, and in some cases appointments to the provincial university were made for political rather than for academic reasons. Though seeing that in a young and democratic country the Scotch-American model must be followed rather than the English, and though resisting attempts to follow the practice of Oxford or Cambridge, Wilson was a believer in the merits of a modified form of the residential system. He was one of the earliest in Canada to cast aside the classical tradition, and as early as 1860 had the courage to say: "It is just because ... German and French are now the keys of so much modern philosophy and science that all wise University reformers are learning to give to modern languages the place they justly claim in a liberal education." In 1881 he was made president of Toronto university, and in 1885 president of the literature section of the Canadian Royal Society. He died in Toronto on August 6, 1892. Recognition In 1888 Wilson was knighted for his services to education in Canada. In 1891 he was given the freedom of the city of Edinburgh. William Wilfred Campbell included Wilson's poem "The Scot Abroad" in the Oxford Book of Canadian Verse, ''1913.Contents, ''Oxford Book of Canadian Verse. Toronto & New York: Oxford University Press, 1913. Web, Nov. 19, 2018. The Sir Daniel J. Wilson Residence at the University College in University of Toronto is named in his honor. Publications *''Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time''. Edinburgh: Hugh Paton, 1846; Edinburgh: Ballantyne Press, for T.C. Jack / London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1875; Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013. *''Prehistoric Annals of Scotland''. London: Macmillan, 1851; London & Cambridge, UK: Macmillan, 1863; Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012. *''Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate''. London: T. Nelson, 1852. *''Prehistoric Man: Researches into the origin of civilization in the old and new world''. (2 volumes), Cambridge, UK, & London: Macmillan, 1862; Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015. *''Chatterton: A biographical study''. London: Macmillan, 1869. *''Caliban: The missing link''. London: Macmillan, 1873; Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014. *''Reminiscences of Old Edinburgh''. Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1878. *''William Nelson: A memoir''. Edinburgh?: 1889. *''The Lost Atlantis and Other Ethnographic Studies''. Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1892; New York: Macmillan, 1892. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Daniel Wilson 1816-1892, WorldCat, OCLC Onlline Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 18, 2018. See also *List of Canadian poets References * . Web, Nov. 18, 2018. *Hulse, Elizabeth (ed.), ''Thinking with Both Hands: Sir Daniel Wilson in the old world and the new. Toronto & London: University of Toronto Press, 1999. Notes External links ;Poems *"The Scot Abroad" ;Books *[http://edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/volume10/ Online version of Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time] with searchable text and images ;About * Original article is at "Wilson, Sir Daniel" Category:1816 births Category:1892 deaths Category:Canadian Anglicans Category:Canadian archaeologists Category:Canadian ethnologists Category:Canadian knights Category:Knights Bachelor Category:People from Edinburgh Category:People from Old Toronto Category:Pre-Confederation Ontario people Category:Presidents of the University of Toronto Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Category:Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario